The new look of affordable housing in Dallas

Granite countertops, a swimming pool, and a gym are among the amenities that make the new apartment complex in Oak Cliff unlike any other in the state. Inside and out, the designer development looks like it belongs in Uptown. But it’s affordable housing -- some of it Section 8.

Author:
Jason Whitely

Published:
11:21 PM CDT September 8, 2016

Updated:
11:21 PM CDT September 8, 2016

DALLAS -- Granite countertops, a swimming pool, and a gym are among the amenities that make the new apartment complex in Oak Cliff unlike any other in the state.

"I feel like I'm moving on up to the East Side or something. I don't know if you remember the Jefferson's, but I've moved on up to the East Side. This is it," said Rose Washington, a tenant.

She's one of the first residents at the High Point Family apartment complex at Zang Boulevard and Wynnewood Drive, which is owned by Bank of America and Central Dallas Community Development Corporation.

Inside and out, the designer development looks like it belongs in Uptown. But it’s affordable housing -- some of it Section 8. One bedroom apartments rent for $582, two bedrooms cost $868, and three bedrooms are $997.

"We're not looking to provide cubicle housing or some sort of mass-production type housing, we're looking to create homes," said Darren W. Smith with Bank of America.

Darren W. Smith

The new complex replaces aging units from the 1940s next door, which were originally built for soldiers returning from World War II.

Rents are fixed and not increasing for residents who get a new home, Smith added, and occupancy after the first two months is at 34 percent.

The complex sits in a 48-acre project, the future of which could also be unprecedented.

The pool at the complex.

The new High Point units are built much closer together and only use half the land the old places did. So, the bank and CDCDC plan to ask the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to sell the other half of the land privately to be redeveloped.

"Our goal is for it to attract other people to continue to help bring up the economic demographics of the real estate in the area,” Smith said.

A bathroom in one of the units.

The High Point Family complex has a sister senior-living project nearby. Both have been in the works for a decade.

Smith said they are the culmination of $52 million in investments in Oak Cliff.

A third complex is in the works, as well, which will replace all 404 units and change the landscape of the Wynnewood area.